MARION — When Priscilla Ditchfield moved from Ohio to Marion, she decided volunteering was a good way to meet people and serve the community. Fifteen years later, she is still going strong and helps out in a variety of ways in her town — and beyond.

MARION — When Priscilla Ditchfield moved from Ohio to Marion, she decided volunteering was a good way to meet people and serve the community.

Fifteen years later, she is still going strong and helps out in a variety of ways in her town — and beyond.

"I am happy to participate in activities both in my home town and in the wider New Bedford community not just because I want to 'give back'," Ditchfield said. "It's an excellent way to meet people, to continue to learn, and to get involved in new activities ... "

Examples of her efforts cover many areas. She has mentored a student for the past two years at the Alma del Mar Charter School in New Bedford. She is past president and a founding member of the Woman's Fund of Southeastern Massachusetts, an organization dedicated to improving educational and economic opportunities for women. She has been on its Grant Development Committee for 11 years, and has served on the advisory board of its WISE (Women In Successful Environments) program at Bristol Community College, which assists women who are coming off public assistance.

For those efforts and many more, Ditchfield has been named The Standard-Times 2013 Marion Woman of the Year. Nominations for the honor came from the community and members of the newspaper staff with recipients selected by a newsroom committee.

"I have sat on committees with Priscilla and observed her in action," Women's Fund and League of Women Voters member Nancy Braitmayer said in her letter endorsing Ditchfield. "She is a voice of calm reason in discussions, always positive and encouraging."

Kate Fentress, the retiring executive director of the Women's Fund, said Ditchfield "is a very low key person, never in the spotlight, but always doing much to contribute to a variety of causes in the area."

Said Fentress,"In Marion, she served on the Finance Committee, which I am sure, if it is like any other town committee, is fraught with peril. But it's a perfect place for a person who rarely gets rattled, and just proceeds, listens, asks, and plots a steady course."

She added that as far as the Women's Fund is concerned, "there is no doubt in my mind that we would not be where we are today ... were it not for her steady hand in those early years."

Ditchfield was born in Oklahoma and raised in New York City. Her career history includes foundation work and philanthropy.

Along the way, she and her husband had lived in Arlington, Mass. and when they retired, they wanted to return to Massachusetts, she said.

"When we moved here, we didn't know a soul," she said. Volunteerism "was a great way to meet people and contribute to our new community. Now we're meeting a lot or people and ...it's rewarding to give back. We never had the time when we were working."

"She is the antithesis of a self-promoter and does a lot of her work under the radar," said Christina Bascom, who serves with Ditchfield on the Women's Fund and Friends of Council On Aging (Ditchfield is the latter's treasurer.)

Bascom noted that her work with women and girls has also included volunteering at a cooking program at Keith Middle School in New Bedford. She is also on the President's Council of the New Bedford Art Museum and a long-time and active supporter of the Ocean Explorium.